1. Field of the Invention
An aspect of this disclosure relates to a feeder-cover structure and a semiconductor production apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a semiconductor production apparatus that performs fine-processing on a semiconductor wafer (which is hereafter simply referred to as a “wafer”) by, for example, etching, the etching rate is controlled by controlling the temperature of an electrostatic chuck (ESC) on which the wafer is placed. A proposed electrostatic chuck includes an embedded heater for directly heating the electrostatic chuck, and is thereby configured to improve the responsiveness of temperature control.
In a proposed configuration, for example, an electrostatic chuck is divided into multiple zones and heaters are embedded in the respective zones to perform temperature control of the zones independently. An alternating-current power supply is connected to the heaters to supply an electric current to each of the heaters. Power feeders are provided between the heaters embedded in the electrostatic chuck and heater filters, to supply the electric current from the alternating-current power supply to the heaters. Each power feeder includes a plug on the side of the heater filter and a socket on the side of the electrostatic chuck. When the plug is inserted into the socket, the power feeder can supply an electric current to the heater.
However, when the plug on the side of the heater filter is misaligned with the socket on the side of the electrostatic chuck, the plug may be bent and deformed before being inserted into the socket and it may become difficult to insert the plug into the socket. When the plug is greatly deformed, the tip of the plug may be tilted with respect to the socket and it may become difficult to insert the plug into the socket.
By the way, ambient air tends to enter from the outside into a lower space in a semiconductor production apparatus. When moisture enters the inside of a power feeder located in a lower side of the semiconductor production apparatus, the power feeder may burn out due to condensation. Therefore, it is important to take measures to prevent condensation around the power feeder. As an example of a condensation prevention measure, the lower space of the semiconductor production apparatus may be sealed and filled with dry air. When this measure is not sufficient, dry air may be introduced directly into the power feeder to prevent condensation.
However, when multiple power feeders are provided to independently control the temperatures of multiple zones of an electrostatic chuck, it is necessary to provide a mechanism to introduce dry air for each of the power feeders. This in turn increases the number of components of a semiconductor production apparatus and complicates the process of assembling the semiconductor processing apparatus.